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Zeus
In Greek mythology, Zeus (Greek: Ζευς) is the King of the Olympians and the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, weather, law, order, and justice. His sacred attributes include a lightning bold, a royal scepter, an eagle, a bull, and the oak tree. Seen in the retinue of Zeus are a number of deities, all of whom serve a different purpose, including: *Hermes is the messenger of Zeus and personal herald *Nike is the charioteer of Zeus *Kratos and Bia are the enforcers of Zeus who are tasked with duties such as apprehending and imprisoning criminals *Zelos is a guard of Zeus *Themis is the high counselor of Zeus who was in charge of summoning all the gods together when Zeus called for it *Metis is the advisor of Zeus who he swallowed whole so she gives him advise from inside his body *Ganymede and Hebe are the cupbearers of Zeus *The Harpies are responsible for punishing those whom Zeus feels should be punished *Pegasus is a winged horse who carries Zeus' lightning bolts Zeus is equated with Jupiter in Roman mythology and Amun in Egyptian mythology. Mythology Birth and infancy Cronus sired several children by Rhea: Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades, and Poseidon, but swallowed them all as soon as they were born, since he had learned from Gaea and Uranus that he was destined to be overthrown by his son as he had previously overthhown Uranus, his own father. When Zeus was about to be born, Rhea sought Gaea to devise a plan to save him so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus and his own children. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, handing Cronus a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he promptly swallowed. Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. He was raised by a goat named Amalthea, while a company of Corybantes danced, shouted, and clashed their spears against their shields so that Cronus would not hear the baby's cries. Titanomachy After reaching manhood, Zeus became the cupbearer of Cronus and gave him a mixture of wine and mustard which was given to him by Metis. His drink caused Cronus to disgorge Zeus' siblings. Then, Zeus released the brothers of Cronus, the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes from their imprisonment in Tartarus, killing their guard, Kampe. As a token of their appreciation, the Cyclopes gave him his thunderbolt. Together, Zeus and his brothers and sisters, along with the Hekatonkheires and Cyclopes, overthrew Cronus and the other Titans in a ten-year long war called the Titanomachy. The defeated Titans were then cast into Tartarus. Atlas, a leader of the Titans, was punished by having to hold up the sky for all of eternity. After the battle with the Titans, Zeus shared the world with his elder brothers, Poseidon and Hades, by drawing lots: Zeus got the sky and air, Poseidon the waters, and Hades the world of the dead. The ancient earth, Gaea, could not be claimed; she was left to all three, each according to their capabilities, which is why Poseidon is the god of earthquakes adn Hades is the god of the dead. Gigantomachy and Typhon Gaea resented the way Zeus had treated the Titans because they were also her children. Soon after taking the throne as king of the gods, Zeus had to fight some of Gaea's other children, the monster Typhon as well as a race of giants born from the union of Tartarus and Gaea, the Gigantes. Each of the Gigantes were defeated one-by-one and Typhon was trapped under Mount Etna. Great Deluge When Zeus was atop Mount Olypus, he grew upset with mankind and the sacrifices that they were performing on one another. Furiously, he decided it would be best to wipe out mankind with a gigantic flood using the help of his brother Poseidon, King of the Seas. Killing every human except Deucalion and Pyrrha, Zeus flooded the entire planet but realized he had to restore society with new people. After clearing the water, he had Deucalion and Pyrrha create humans to repopulate the earth using stones that became humans. These stones represent the hardness of mankind. Conflicts with Hypnos After Heracles had laid siege to Troy, Hera wanted to punish him since she had sided with Troy in the Trojan War. However, Heracles' father, Zeus, was always protecting his son and would not allow Hera to intervene in Heracles' life. Hera sent Hypnos to make Zeus fall asleep so that she could send powerful winds to blow Heracles' ship off course. When Zeus awoke, he was furious with Hypnos and chased him to punish him. However, Hypnos fled to his mother, Nyx, and she protected him from Zeus. Zeus didn't want to anger Nyx, fearing her great power, so he allowed Hypnos to leave unpunished. Later, Hera asked Hypnos once again for help by putting Zeus to sleep so that she could aid the Danaans win their battle in the Trojan War. Hera went to Aphrodite and told her that she wished to stop fighting with her husband so Aphrodite helped her to make her irresistible to Zeus. When Hera met with Zeus on the top of Mount Ida, Zeus was enamoured with her and, when he went in to hug her, Hypnos made Zeus fall asleep. While he was asleep, Poseidon helped the Danaans win their battle. In this instance, Zeus never found out about Hypnos' interference. Lovers Hera Zeus is the brother and consort of Hera. By Hera, Zeus sired Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Enyo, and Angelos. Since Zeus has had many affairs with different mortal women, nymphs, and goddesses, Hera is a jealous woman and a consistent enemy of Zeus' mistresses and their children by him. Io In order to hide and protect Io from the wrath of his wife, Zeus transformed her into a white heifer. However, once Hera saw the heifer, she knew it was the transformed Io and requested that Zeus give it to her as a gift. Not wanting to arise her suspicions, Zeus did as she asked and Hera tied it to a tree and sent Argus Panoptes, a man with one hundred eyes, to guard it. Not wanting Io to live a miserable life, Zeus sent Hermes to release Io. He did so by boring Argus to sleep with a never-ending story and then killing him by touching each of his eyes to make sure they would never open again. After releasing Io, she roamed all the way to Egypt all while a gadfly sent by Hera was stinging her. In Egypt, she was transformed back to a woman and she gave birth to Epaphus and Keroessa. Asteria After being lusted after and chased by Zeus, Asteria transformed herself into a quail and jumped into the Aegean Sea, where she became the island of Delos. Asteria's sister, Leto, later gave birth to her and Zeus' twin children on this island. Family Zeus is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea and, thus, is the youngest sibling of Hades, Poseidon, Hera, Demeter, and Hera. Although married to Hera, Zeus has had many affairs and many children with the women from his affairs, including: Epithets and poetic titles *''Abrettenus'' (Greek: Ἀβρεττηνός) when worshipped in Mysia *''Adados'' *''Aegiduchos'' as the bearer of the aegis *''Agoraeus'' as the patron god of the marketplace and the punisher of dishonest traders *''Apemius'' as the averter of ills *''Apomyius'' as one who dispels flies *''Astrapios'' ("lightninger") as the god of weather *''Bottiaeus'' when worshipped at Antioch *''Bouleus'' when worshipped at Dodona *''Brontios'' ("thunderer") as the god of weather *''Diktaios'' as the lord of the Dikte mountain range *''Georgos'' (Greek: Ζεὺς Γεωργός, "Zeus the Farmer") as the god of crops and the harvest *''Helioupolites'' ("Heliopolite") as the sun god at Heliopolis *''Horkios'' as the keeper of oaths *''Ithomatas'' when worshipped at Mount Ithome in Messenia *''Kasios'' ("Zeus of Jebel Aqra") when worshihpped on the Syrian-Turkish border *''Labrandos'' ("Zeus of Labraunda") when worshipped at Caria *''Meilichios'' ("Zeus the Easily-Entreated") when worshipped at Athens *''Naos'' when worshipped at Dodona *''Olympios'' as the king of the gods and patron god of the Panhellenic Games at Olympia *''Panhellenios'' ("Zeus of All the Greeks") when worshipped at the temple of Aeacus on Aegina *''Tallaios'' ("solar Zeus") when worshipped on Crete *''Xenios, Philoxenon, and Hospites'' as the patron god of hospitality and guests and as the avenger of wrongs done to strangers Category:Greek mythology Category:Greek deities Category:Greek gods